NATO

10 results arranged by date

As they look toward the next era of uncertainty, reporters in Afghanistan express a sense of determination to build on what they have achieved.
By Bob Dietz

An Afghan man marks his application for voter registration in Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 16, 2013. Journalists' future may hinge on the presidential election scheduled for April 2014. (AP/Rahmat Gul)

This
summer, for good reason, the world's attention was focused on Turkey. Anti-government protests over plans to
destroy a park in downtown Istanbul attracted global attention. Ankara's
strategic importance in Syria and the Middle East, as well as being a member of
NATO, makes what happens in Turkey important.

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Considering the
worst-case scenarios for post-2014 Afghanistan, international news agencies
should start planning a range of assistance responses for locally hired journalists
and media staff. By the end of 2014, NATO troops will have largely withdrawn
and the Karzai government will make way for a new administration. If the
situation becomes chaotic, Afghans working for foreign and local media could
become targets for retribution for their work as journalists.

Turkey has
no business being the world's leading jailer of journalists. But the
numbers don't lie. With 49 journalists imprisoned for their work, according to
CPJ's annual worldwide prison census, released today, Turkey holds more individuals
behind bars than Iran (45), China (32), or Eritrea (28). How did Turkey find
itself in this situation? Unlike the other countries that top CPJ's imprisoned
list, Turkey has a relatively open and vibrant media. It is an emerging
democracy, a NATO member, and a candidate for European Union integration.

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Wednesday, the Afghanistan Analysts Network
(AAN) released its report, "Death
of an Uruzgan Journalist: Command Errors and Collateral Damage," by Kate
Clark on the July 2011 shooting death of journalist Omaid Khpalwak.
Clark's details on how Khpalwak died corroborate and then go beyond the
investigation already conducted by the U.S.-led NATO forces who were
responsible. Her report was important to write, and is important to read.

Local "fixers" have been essential to foreign reporters covering the Afghan war. While they often do the same work as their international counterparts, they run greater risk and face a far more uncertain future. By Monica Campbell

On
August 4, CPJ wrote to NATO Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen requesting information about the July 30 attacks
on broadcast facilities in Libya
in which NATO aircraft destroyed three broadcast dishes. As we noted in our
letter, CPJ is concerned any time a media outlet faces a military attack. Such
attacks can only be justified under international humanitarian law if the
facility is being used for military purposes or to incite violence against the
civilian population.

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On July 30, NATO warplanes attacked three transmission
towers in Libya. The goal apparently was to knock Libyan state television off
the air because, NATO alleged, "it was being used as an integral component of
the regime apparatus designed to systematically oppress and threaten civilians
and to incite attacks against them."